Wednesday, January 31, 2007

Biden Unwraps His Bid for ’08 With an Oops! - New York Times

Senator Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware, who announced his candidacy on Wednesday with the hope that he could ride his foreign policy expertise into contention for the Democratic nomination, instead spent the day struggling to explain his description of Senator Barack Obama, the Illinois Democrat running for president, as “the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”

The remark, published Wednesday in The New York Observer, left Mr. Biden’s campaign struggling to survive its first hours and injected race more directly into the presidential contest. The day ended, appropriately enough for the way politics is practiced now, with Mr. Biden explaining himself to Jon Stewart on Comedy Central’s “The Daily Show.” (more)

Discovery

Around stardate 4202.1, the Constellation, under the command of CommodoreMatthew Decker, encountered massive destruction in system L-370 — all seven planets had been destroyed. Proceeding to system L-374 (stardate 1313.1), the ship found three intact planets, and a fourth in the process of breaking up. Orbiting the fourth planet was the doomsday machine, firing a beam of pure antiprotons at the planet and consuming the planet's rubble as fuel.

As the Constellation approached, it was quickly attacked by the planet killer. The ship's deflector shields were quickly overwhelmed by the onslaught, and the machine proved completely invulnerable to counterattack, because its hull was composed of pure neutronium. The Constellation sustained heavy damage — the main bridge was destroyed, the phaser banks were exhausted, and the warp drive was damaged. In addition, the machine projected a powerful dampening field, cutting off all communications with Starfleet, and somehow deactivating the Constellation's antimatter fuel and leaving the ship nearly powerless.

Unable to continue the attack or escape, Decker ordered the crew to evacuate to the third planet in the system. Decker himself remained aboard as the last man. However, after finishing consuming the fourth planet, the machine then turned towards the third planet. Decker tried to beam his crew back up, but the machine attacked again, damaging the transporter. He could only watch, helpless, as the machine consumed the planet below, and his entire crew of 400 men and women killed.

The Doomsday Machine fires its anti-proton beam.

A short time later, the Enterprise, under the command of CaptainJames T. Kirk, received a faint and garbled distress signal. Unable to make out any words aside from Constellation, she entered system L-374 and found her sister ship drifting and abandoned, with Commodore Decker the sole survivor aboard. Assessing the situation using the Constellation's sensor records taken by science officerMasada, Spock projected the weapon's origin. He also determined, based on its present course, that it would enter the most densely populated regions of the Alpha Quadrant, including the nearby Rigel system.

The Battle

As the Enterprise held alongside the Constellation, it was suddenly and swiftly attacked by the Planet Killer. Although the Enterprise was more maneuverable, the weapon was extremely fast and gaining on its target. In the first volley, the Enterprise took heavy damage, with shields almost consumed and transporters and communications damaged. While Captain Kirk was trapped with the boarding party aboard the Constellation, Spock ordered evasive action. Commodore Decker, taken aboard the Enterprise for medical treatment, exercised his authority to assume command under Starfleet General Order 104 and countermanded Spock's orders to avoid the machine and seek a clear space to warn Starfleet. With a combination of seeking retribution for the loss of his ship and crew, and the presumption that the nearby Rigel colonies would be the next target of the machine, Decker ordered an immediate attack on the weapon. However, the Enterprise was overwhelmed as quickly as the Constellation had been, and soon trapped by a tractor beam which was pulling the ship towards the doomsday machine's maw.

Meanwhile, on the Constellation, Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott managed to effect partial repairs to the impulse engines and a single phaser bank. Kirk launched a diversionary attack on the Planet Killer that allowed both ships to escape. The doomsday machine apparently had a relatively simple and straightforward defensive computer program that only allowed it to engage single targets within a specific range. The immediate danger past, Captain Kirk ordered Decker relieved of command of the Enterprise.

As the two Starfleet ships withdrew, the Planet Killer returned to L-374 and resumed consuming the planetary debris, taking in additional fuel. When Decker gave indications he was going to continue to press the attack despite narrowly avoiding disaster in the previous engagement, he was relieved of command by Spock under direct orders from Kirk on the basis that to continue to press the futile attacks would be indication he was suicidal, and was ordered to report to sickbay for a psychological examination.

The Constellation enters the maw of the machine.

Suffering from insanity brought on by the extreme stress and the loss of his ship, crew and command, Commodore Decker escaped custody and stole a shuttlecraft from the Enterprise, piloting it on a suicide course directly into the weapon's maw, where it was quickly destroyed. However, the Enterprise sensors detected a small drop in the power output of the Planet Killer — the shuttlecraft's explosion, however small, had in fact caused some minor damage to the weapon from the inside. Based on this data, Captain Kirk proposed detonating the Constellation 's main impulse engines inside the Planet Killer, creating a much bigger explosion and hopefully causing major damage to the weapon, if not destroying it outright.

As the Enterprise held position near the Planet Killer, outside of weapons range, Kirk piloted the Constellation on a direct course toward the weapon. Beaming out at the last second, the Constellation 's engines detonated directly inside the weapon's maw, bypassing the neutronium hull. The Planet Killer was completely deactivated by the explosion — although it was left intact, power levels dropped to zero.

Following the battle, Captain Kirk noted in his log that Commodore Decker gave his life in the line of duty. (TOS: "The Doomsday Machine")

Apocrypha

The WildstormStar Trek comics included a Star Trek: Voyager miniseries with another Doomsday Machine. In this encounter, it was revealed that the machine was the creation of an extinct species designated by the Borg as Species 4672; the Borg had attempted and failed to assimilate the Doomsday Machine technology, and had as yet been unable to discover a defence against it. As the Machine began to advance on an inhabitated planet in the nearby system, Voyager tried to find some way to destroy it. An attempt to duplicate Kirk's stunt for stopping the original Machine (Using a damaged spaceship belonging to an alien they had rescued) failed, but the crew came up with the idea of infecting the machine with a nanoprobe-based virus.

Initial attempts to infect the machine with the virus by launching probes filled with the nanobots into the machine failed, but they eventually had the idea of using Voyager to draw the Machine's fire while Tom Paris and the Doctor took the Delta Flyer up close. As Voyager distracted the Machine, Paris transported the Doctor in so he could inject the nanoprobes into the machine, his mobile emitter coated with neutronium so it couldn't detect him as it was made of that very mineral. (According to the crew, the original Machine was used by the natives of Rigel as a monument to its victims, and they speculated the same would be true of this one).

Peter David's novel "Vendetta" featured another (and is the source of the above speculation as to its Borg-based origin). In this novel, it was hypothesized that the Planet Killer was an ancient race's (perhaps the Preservers) last resort weapon against the Borg. Its basic design - destroy planets already assimilated by the Borg for use as fuel - coupled with an indestructible neutronium hull and antiproton beam (against which there is little or no defense), make it an ideal weapon against the Borg.

In Kevin Lauderdale's short story "Devices and Desires" (in Constellations), the Doomsday Machine was taken to The Yard, a top secret facility where the alien technology Starfleet has acquired is stored and studied. One of its researchers is Dr. Pad – a reference to Peter (Allen) David, above.

The fan series Star Trek: New Voyages also featured the Doomsday Machine in the episode, "In Harm's Way".

This is a featured article. We believe it to be one of the best examples of the Memory Alpha community's work. Even so, if you see a way this page can be improved even further, we invite you to contribute.

Oh ! Sexy Girlfriend! Banzai !

Endeavor Academy - Master Teacher | MetaFilter

Really creepy. The guy is Chuck Anderson and the organization is called Endeavor Academy.

I laughed at all the snarkalicious comments on Metafilter:

Poor James Garner. He hasn't been the same ever since that geriatrics in space movie.posted by Terminal Verbosity at 9:58 AM PST on January 28--i keep expecting the bottle of thunderbird to appear at any minuteposted by pyramid termite at 10:01 AM PST on January 28--Oddly, as I watched it, my endowment plummeted toward the floor.

The Advent of a Great Awakening.(video) Mr. Rogers's doppleganger has some good news to share with you. Seven minutes in is a particularly surreal place to start. The 18:45 mark is also notably creepy.See also.

Saturday, January 27, 2007

Slashdot | YouTube To Pay For User-Generated Content

"Speaking at the World Economic Forum, YouTube CEO Chad Hurley has revealed that the company plans to financially compensate users who produce and upload their content. With Google's purchase of YouTube last year, followed by more aggressive attempts to monetize the site (such as the deal struck with Verizon Wireless), it was inevitable that YouTube would come under pressure to share some of those fruits with ordinary users. But why didn't YouTube pay its users from the start? Hurley said: 'We didn't want to build a system that was motivated by monetary reward. We wanted to really build a true community around video. When you start out with giving money to people from day one, the people you do attract will just switch to the next provider who's paying more. We're at a scale now that we feel we can do that and still have a true community around video.'"

Bad news today for people who use cellphones but don't want cancer: long-term (10+ years) cellphone use has been linked with brain tumors. According to the study, people who had used cellphones for more than 10 years had a 40 percent higher chance than others of developing certain brain tumors. This news comes to us from the same British researcher who said that more research was needed to determine if there actually is a relationship between (long-term) cellphone use and cancer. (more)

Thursday, January 25, 2007

Torrents of Interest - Yahoo! Buzz Log

In-the-know TV junkies aren't even messing with a DVR anymore. Some aren't even bothering with a TV. Instead of setting up timers to record their favorite show when it airs, Web heads are turning to the treasure trove of shows available for download on black market BitTorrent sites.

Torrent searches spiked over the past week, but we attribute that to movie junkies looking to snag copies of Academy Award-nominated flicks not yet available on DVD. Waxy.org researched the prevalence of Oscar-nominated movies available online and found 31 of the 34 films named by Oscar were out there on the Web in some form.

St Dwynwen's Day 25th January - Welsh patron saint of lovers

St Dwynwen's Day is celebrated in Wales on 25 January. But who was St Dwynwen?

St Dwynwen is the Welsh patron saint of lovers, which makes her the Welsh equivalent of St Valentine.

Dwynwen lived during the 5th century and was one of the prettiest of Brychan Brycheiniog's 24 daughters. Dwynwen fell in love with a prince called Maelon Dafodrill, but unfortunately her father had already arranged that she should marry someone else.

Dwynwen was so upset that she could not marry Maelon that she begged God to make her forget him. After falling asleep, Dwynwen was visited by an angel, who appeared carrying a sweet potion designed to erase all memory of Maelon and turn him into a block of ice.

God then gave three wishes to Dwynwen. Her first wish was that Maelon be thawed; her second that God meet the hopes and dreams of true lovers; and third, that she should never marry. All three were fulfilled, and as a mark of her thanks, Dwynwen devoted herself to God's service for the rest of her life. (more)

Wednesday, January 24, 2007

Flickr: Flickr API - machine tags

[Note : I work here and this message was also sent to the API mailing list]

We are rolling out a new feature called "machine tags" that allows users to be more precise in how they tag, and how they search, their photos.

Many of you may already be familiar with machine tags by another name (triple tags) or because you are already using them, informally, in your code (for example, "geo:long=123.456").

"Machine tags" is the technical term for the extra hamsters we've added to the Flickr servers to formalize how these sorts of tags are treated. I've included a "Ceci n'est pas un FAQ" below with all the details.

For the moment, machine tags are principally an API "thing". The photo pages have been updated to display tags a little differently but otherwise all the magic you can perform with machine tags happens here at the API layer. (This includes the special wildcard syntax for searching photos with machine tags.)

Enjoy!

---

# What are machine tags?

Machine tags are tags that use a special syntax to define extra informationabout a tag.

Machine tags have a namespace, a predicate and a value. The namespace defines a class or a facet that a tag belongs to ('geo', 'flickr', etc.) The predicate is name of the property for a namespace ('latitude', 'user', etc.) The value is, well, the value.

Like tags, there are no rules for machine tags beyond the syntax to specify the parts of a machine tag. For example, you could tag a photo with :

* flickr:user=straup

* flora:tree=coniferous

* medium:paint=oil

* geo:cartier="plateau mont royal"

* geo:neighbourhood=geo:cartier

Flickr has already used machine tags, informally, on a couple of occasions :

- When we launched Maps, we provided a way for people who had "geotagged" their photos to import their location data. This was done using the "geo:lat=..." and "geo:lon=..." tags.

- When a user tags an event with an upcoming ID (for example : "upcoming:event=81334") we display a link back to the upcoming.org site. A similar example is the excellent "Flickr Upcoming Event" greasemonkey script :

Namespaces MUST begin with any character between a - z; remaining characters MAY be a - z, 0 - 9 and underbars. Namespaces are case-insensitive.

2) A "predicate" :

Predicates MUST begin with any character between a - z; remaining characters MAY be a - z, 0 - 9 and underbars. Namespaces are case-insensitive.

3) A "value" :

Values MAY contain any characters that a "plain vanilla" tags use. Values may also contain spaces but, like regular tags, they need to wrapped in quotes.

Namespace and predicates are separated by a colon : ":"

Predicates and values are separated by an equals symbol : "="

For example :

* flickr:user=straup

* geo:locality="san francisco"

---

# Why can't I use non-ASCII characters for namespaces and predicates ?

Simple steps, first.

---

# Can I define another machine tag as the value of a machine tag?

Sure, but it will not be processed as a machine tag itself.

---

# How do I add machine tags?

By adding tags! No, really.

Machine tags are added *exactly* the same as any other tag whether it is done through the website or the API.

When the Flickr supercomputer processes your tags, we take a moment to checkwhether it is a machine tag. If it is we leverage the powerful Do What I Mean engine to, well, do what you mean.

---

# How do I query machine tags?

Via the API!

Specifically, using the "machinetags" parameter in the 'flickr.photos.search' method. Like tags, you can specify multiple machine tags as a comma separated list.

---

# Can I query the various part of a machine tag?

Yes. Aside from passing in a fully formed machine tag, there is a special syntax for searching on specific properties :

* Find photos using the 'dc' namespace :

{"machine_tags" => "dc:"}

* Find photos with a title in the 'dc' namespace :

{"machine_tags" => "dc:title="}

* Find photos titled "mr. camera" in the 'dc' namespace :

{"machine_tags" => "dc:title=\"mr. camera\"}

* Find photos whose value is "mr. camera" :

{"machine_tags" => "*:*=\"mr. camera\""}

* Find photos that have a title, in any namespace :

{"machine_tags" => "*:title="}

* Find photos that have a title, in any namespace, whose value is "mr. camera" :

{"machine_tags" => "*:title=\"mr. camera\""}

* Find photos, in the 'dc' namespace whose value is "mr. camera" :

{"machine_tags" => "dc:*=\"mr. camera\""}

---

# Is there a limit to the number of machine tags I can query?

Yes. The limit depends on the tag mode (ALL or ANY) that you are queryingwith. "ALL" (AND) queries are limited to (16) machine tags. "ANY" (OR) queries are limited to (8).

---

# Can I do range queries on machine tags?

No. Not yet, anyway.

It is a hard problem for reasons far too dull to get in to here. It's on the list.

---

# Are machine tag namespaces reserved?

No. Anyone can use a namespace for anything they want.

If you are concerned about colliding namespaces you should consider adding an additional machine tag to define your namespace. For example :

dc:subject=tags xmlns:dc=http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/

Like tags, in general, we expect (hope?) that the community will develop its own standards by consensus over time.

---

# What about all the machine tags that are already in the Flickr database?

At the moment, they are still treated as plain old tags.

We have plans to go back and re-import them as machine tags but for now, only new tags will be processed as machine tags.

In the meantime, if you re-save a machine from the 'edit this tag' page it will be re-imported as a machine tag.

---

# Is the predicate *really* a predicate?

You are in a dark cave. In the corner is a fire and a man making bunny shadows on the wall with his hands. Whether or not it's really a 'predicate' depends on how much time you spend on the semantic-web mailing list. ;-)

It's close enough to being a predicate that it makes for a good short-hand.

---

# Wait, aren't machine tags just RDF?

No, machine tags are not RDF; they could play RDF on television, though.

President Bush's 2007 State of the Union address bumped into an unexpected snag with the "rapturing" of approximately 150,000 Fundamentalist Christians yesterday, Washington sources said. The rapture, which resulted in the immediate disappearance and ascension into heaven of the bulk of President Bush's remaining supporters, appeared to have caught Bush completely by surprise and rendered the remainder of his State of the Union speech halting and virtually indecipherable.A D V E R T I S I N G

"It was kind of a shock," veteran political analyst Arty Shaw, who was present in the visitor's gallery at Bush's State of the Union, said. "President Bush had been talking about 20 minutes, and was just finishing up the empty platitudes section of the State of the Union address before moving on to the false promises bit, when about 300 people in the audience abruptly disappeared." (more)

Global warming: the final verdict

Global warming is destined to have a far more destructive and earlier impact than previously estimated, the most authoritative report yet produced on climate change will warn next week.

A draft copy of the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, obtained by The Observer, shows the frequency of devastating storms - like the ones that battered Britain last week - will increase dramatically. Sea levels will rise over the century by around half a metre; snow will disappear from all but the highest mountains; deserts will spread; oceans become acidic, leading to the destruction of coral reefs and atolls; and deadly heatwaves will become more prevalent. (more)

Sunday, January 21, 2007

The Rubiks Cube Solution

"The world's most famous puzzle, simultaneously beloved and despised for it's beautiful simple complexity, the Rubiks Cube has been frustrating gamers since Erno Rubik invented it back in 1974. Over the years many brave gamers have whole-heartedly taken up the challenge to restore a mixed Rubik's cube to it's colorful and perfect original configuration, only to find the solution lingering just out of their grasp time and time again. After spending hours and days twisting and turning the vaunted cube in vain, many resorted to removing and replacing the multi-colored facelets of the cube in a dastardly attempt to cheat the seemingly infallible logic of the cube, while others simply tossed it to the side and dubbed it impossible. The Rubik's cube, it seemed, had defeated all.

Humanity required a solution, so many intelligent gamers went to work to take down the so-called "frustration cube". Amazingly, not only did they discover a solution, they formulated many of them, ranging from beginner-level to advanced. One of these bright bulbs was Denny Dedmore (formerly of VirtualPuzzleMuseum.com). Not only did he discover an efficient and fool-proof solution for solving the cube, he also provided several amazing "algorithms" (move-sequences) which made following his talented solution very simple. Mr. Dedmore completed his now easy-to-master solution by inventing the brilliant move notation found throughout the guide, which made explaining the various twists and turns necessary to solve the Rubiks cube visually understandable. A complete solution had been arrived at.

We are now proud to bring you the stunning Rubiks cube strategy guide originally developed by Denny Dedmore, now optimized and refreshed by Chess and Poker Dot Com, that will allow all of us to claim vindication and defeat the previously unbeatable Rubik's cube. Take your time, work through all of the steps until you understand them and you'll be able to successfully solve the rubik's cube. Finally!" (solution here)

Zeus worshippers demand access to temple - Yahoo! News

ATHENS, Greece - After all these centuries, Zeus may have a few thunderbolts left. A tiny group of worshippers plans a rare ceremony Sunday to honor the ancient Greek gods, at Athens' 1,800-year-old Temple of Olympian Zeus. Greece's Culture Ministry has declared the central Athens site off-limits, but worshippers say they will defy the decision.

"These are our temples and they should be used by followers of our religion," said Doreta Peppa, head of the Athens-based Ellinais, a group campaigning to revive the ancient religion.

"Of course we will go ahead with the event ... we will enter the site legally," said Peppa, who calls herself a high priestess of the revived faith. "We will issue a call for peace, who can be opposed to that?"

Peppa said the ceremony will be held in honor of Zeus, king of the ancient gods, but did not give other details. The daily Ethnos newspaper, citing the group's application to the Culture Ministry to use the site, said the 90-minute event would include hymns, dancers, torchbearers, and worshippers in ancient costumes. (more)

Discordianism - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Discordianism is a modern, chaos-based religion founded in either 1958 or 1959. It has been described as both an elaborate joke disguised as a religion, and as a religion disguised as an elaborate joke. Some of its followers make the claim that it is "a religion disguised as a joke disguised as a religion" (or "a joke disguised as a religion disguised as a joke disguised as...")[citation needed]. It has also been described as "Zen for roundeyes," and converges with some of the more absurdistinterpretations of the Rinzai school.

Hillary Rodham Clinton: In a Field of Heavy Hitters, No Sure Thing - New York Times

Compared with the other Democrats who plan to run for president in 2008, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is the most battle-tested, has the biggest fund-raising network and can walk into the job with a unique set of skills and perspectives gleaned from eight years in the White House as first lady.

Codex Seraphinianus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Codex Seraphinianus is a book written and illustrated by the Italian architect and industrial designer Luigi Serafini during the late 1970s. The book is approximately 360 pages long (depending on edition), and appears to be a visual encyclopedia of an unknown world, written in one of its languages, an incomprehensible (at least for us) alphabetic writing.

Mancow/Joana's 1-60 Horde Guide will get your horde to 60 faster than any other guide. ... Since I never played horde I got a copy of his leveling guide, ...www.marsgamer.com/freeguides/mancow_joana_1-60_horde_guide.html - 32k - Naka-Cache - Mga katulad na webpage

Google is promoting Checkout, its online payment service, on the search engine's front page, and offering shoppers a $10 bonus to set up an account. On the surface, it's a mildly aggressive move, reminiscent of rival Paypal's inducements to users. But Google's new promotion is more. A former executive at eBay, which acquired Paypal and made it the default payment option on the online auction site, tells Valleywag that the two giants agreed tacitly in 2003 to stay out of eachother's turf. (more)

Google Checkoutcheckout.google.com Learn how Google Checkout can help you buy or sell online.

Welcome to Google Checkout™ -- a new service that makes online shopping ... You can read below about how Google Checkout works, or watch a quick video tour. ...checkout.google.com/buyer/tour.html - 12k

The O'Reilly Network has published my tutorial about the Google Checkout API, ... We also released integrations of Google Checkout with the open source ...googlecheckout.blogspot.com/ - 30k - Jan 19, 2007 -

Pointless Sites - Useless Sites - PointlessSites.com

The definitive place for pointless websites... A popular portal for premier pointlessness....

We aim to list here only pointless and useless sites that; are completely pointless, don't have pop up/under ads or too many ads in general, are original, useless, are not offensive (we are not sure if pinguin extreme has crossed the line?) and most of all make you smile.

Also known as useless sites, useless websites, pointless websites, time wasters, pointless pages, and pointless webpages!

If you like a site - then please VOTE! for it - All listed and votable from the A to Z list or use the search box.

Click the Vote button by the link. Vote for as many different sites as you like (but only once for any one site each day). Vote every day for the sites you like... Have fun...

YouTube - Max Headroom New Coke Commercial

"Max Headroom [wikipedia], advertising COKE'S new formula when they tried to have the NEW COKE . . I think. Bill Cosby did New Coke I think. New Coke hurt them, so maybe Max Headroom was used in their new ads? I DUNNO!!! WHO CARES! :) It's Max Headroom, that's all that matters!"

Wired News: Jan. 19, 1883: Let There Be Light

1883: Roselle, New Jersey, earns its place in tech history when the first electric lighting system employing overhead wires goes into service.

The system was built by Thomas Edison as part of an experiment to prove that an entire community could be lit by electricity. Edison, one of the most prolific inventors of all time, was known as "the Wizard of Menlo Park." That predates, apparently, the age of visionaries, geniuses and gurus. (more)

Thursday, January 18, 2007

twibe: making stupid internet videos important

Twibe.com was officially launched on 01/ 05/ 2007. The blogs that became part of Twibe.com have been around since 2004. This site will give you the inside vibes on everything from music and video games to politics and movies. In a nutshell we try and cover anything we find interesting on the web. We are also YouTube freaks so expect a lot of video posts.

Buffy studies - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Buffy Studies is a subset of the academic field of cultural studies. It explores issues related to gender as expressed through the content of the television program Buffy the Vampire Slayer and to a lesser extent, Angel. Such work is concerned with the scholarly study and exploration of Joss Whedon's popular television series that take place in the fictional Buffyverse.

Neda Ulaby of National Public Radio describes Buffy as having a "special following among academics, some of whom have staked a claim in what they call "Buffy Studies."[1] Though not widely recognised as a distinct discipline, the term "Buffy studies" is commonly used amongst the academic Buffy-related writings[2]. Such studies are also sometimes referred to as 'Buffyology'.

zefrank.com - First Ze Take Hollywood

"On March 17, Cobble Hill–based Web prankster Ze Frank will end his daily, year-long Internet video show to go all Hollywood. “The one thing I took away from my meeting with Jeffrey Katzenberg is that the work begins now,” said Mr. Frank, who was accidentally rewarded with fame after a jokey video, “How to Dance Properly,” went utterly viral in 2001.

Last summer, Sharon Sheinwold, a partner at United Talent Agency, arrived at zefrank.com from the Web log scobleizer.com and spent the next three days “getting lost” in the site. Soon after, she and U.T.A. owner Nick Stevens flew out to New York to meet Ze Frank in person." (more)

37 Fads That Swept The Nation

Death of the Fad: 1981, when Atari released a home version of the popular arcade game that was so bad, it’s still frequently blamed for the video-game-business crash of 1983.

Unbelievably, the first perfect game of Pac-Man [wiki] wasn’t played until July 1999. That honor went to a 33-year-old Florida hot-sauce manufacturer named Billy Mitchell, who played Pac-Man for six hours straight to reach the 256th screen and achieve a score of 3,333,360.